- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
“Likewise sir,” Miranda responded. “Would you like to go somewhere more accommodating sir?”
Admiral Hood laughed and shook his head.
“No, no this conversation shouldn’t take too long,” he smiled sadly. “I’m afraid my coming here is going to have to remain a bit of a secret for now Captain Keyes, the only other person outside of this ship that knows about what I’m going to discuss is General Strauss.”
“Sir?” Keyes asked, confused.
“While I’m sure the actions of our Marines on the ground have been courageous, the truth of the matter is that the Flood have been spreading faster than we could ever have predicted. Africa has been overrun, and the concentration around New Mombasa is staggering. Over seven million Marine infantrymen have been deployed planet-side, but after only several hours, the Flood are already outnumbering us,” Admiral Hood explained, his voice grave.
“How could that be possible sir? The Flood arrived in seven Covenant capital ships, while they certainly could have stuffed a large number into them, there’s no way they could possibly reproduce so quickly,” Keyes protested.
“That is what the council figured as well, but we were wrong. All preliminary damage estimates have been off by almost tenfold. Captain,” Hood said intently, “We are going to lose this battle, and when we do, there won’t be anything left of humanity.”
Keyes stared back at Admiral Hood, speechless.
“Fortunately,” Hood continued, “ONI has several evacuation procedures they’ll be implementing shortly. While the specific areas we will be evacuating too in the latter areas of this battle haven’t been specified as of yet, know that they will take us far from Earth, the Covenant, and all other dangers we’ve been facing lately. Will they follow us? Damned if I know, but we humans haven’t exactly been on a winning streak lately have we?”
“How does this relate to the Lewis Puller, sir?” Keyes asked. A ghost of a smile passed Hood’s face.
“I’m glad you haven’t lost the down-to-Earth attitude Miranda,” Admiral Hood said, then winced at his choice of words. His hands came out from behind his back and handed Keyes a small data disc.
“That disc contains all the coordinates we were given by the Arbiter and everything else we were able to gleam from the Covenant ship before they left,” Hood explained. “With it, you should be able to track down the Master Chief and Cortana.”
“Sir, I can’t just abandon Earth,” Keyes said earnestly. “Please, I want to stay and fight.”
“Officially,” Hood continued, oblivious to Keyes’ plea, “You will be given the mission of tracking down and apprehending the fugitive Ackerson. This information will be given to the rest of ONI in twenty four hours time, should ONI even still exist then. Unofficially you are to link up with the Master Chief and assist him along with the Arbiter in whatever mission they are currently carrying out.”
Keyes began to protest once more but Hood silenced her with a raised hand.
“I know this must be disconcerting for you, but you have a duty to mankind, not just Earth. When the evacuation procedures begin, the Flood will most certainly follow, and I am equally sure that the Covenant will track us down in time as well,” Hood informed her. “Whoever we manage to evacuate from Earth will be a distraction. Hopefully we can lead the Flood and the Covenant on a chase and strand them somewhere, take away a large enough chunk from whatever they’ve got left. If we can manage that then it’ll be all the more easy for the excommunicated Covenant members to eliminate the Covenant and the Flood.”
“Your duty, Captain Keyes,” Hood said intently, “Is to survive. I’m not sure what fate has in store for those of us on Earth, but I am certain long lives is not one of the options. After this is all said and done, you and the crew aboard this ship are going to be all that’s left of humanity.”
Admiral Hood smiled one last time and turned away, walking towards the Pelican. As he entered through the open bay door, he cast one final glance at Keyes before heading into the cockpit.
Miranda watched blankly as the Pelican roared to life and lifted away from the hanger, taxiing down the long corridor that led to the air lock. Once the ship disappeared from view, Keyes became aware of the data chip that rested in her hands.
Abandon Earth, and the rest of humanity? All so mankind can survive on a hope and a prayer that we can manage to defeat the Covenant and the Flood. An enemy we that nearly wiped us off the face of existence, and an enemy not even an advanced race like the Forerunner could defeat.
We’ve lost…
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The Chiroptera-class ship winked into existence, the small Slip Space tear closing itself immediately as the small craft passed through.
Dr. Catherine Halsey sat before the controls of the ship, her hands deftly moving over the controls as she brought the Chiroptera craft into a slow bank. The ship turned and steered itself towards the large Gas Giant positioned near the end of the system, and the research station that orbited around it.
Sighing to herself Dr. Halsey switched the controls over to autopilot and stepped down from the cockpit, moving into the small cargo hold.
“It looks like we made it,” she said, leaning slightly against the door jam.
“So the monitor wasn’t lying when it said we’d need to upgrade before we could continue on,” SPARTAN -087 said, lifting the helmet from her MJOLNIR suit and placing it upon her head. The fastening gears hissed as the suit locked itself together.
“I’m not sure if the monitors are even programmed to be capable of uttering a mistruth,” Dr. Halsey admitted as Kelly got to her feet. Reaching up Dr. Halsey removed her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to massage away the pressure that had slowly built. The Slip Space transit had been tense, and she wasn’t sure if they would exit and find themselves facing a Covenant armada.
“Since we’ve arrived should we release the monitor from stasis, Doctor?” Kelly asked, bending down and stretching, attempting to work out all the kinks that had developed from the prolonged immobility.
“Yes,” Dr. Halsey nodded. “While I’m certain I can handle any Covenant and human computing system, I have little experience working with whatever the Forerunner used.”
“Let’s hope it’s a little more friendly this time,” Kelly said, and Halsey felt a small smile grow on her face.
“I’m certain we can give it enough incentive to cooperate this time,” she said. “I doubt spending several days incapable of movement was enjoyable, and we can just as easily keep it locked up for even longer.”
Kelly nodded in reply and moved to the far end of the hold. Tapping in a few commands on a small terminal a panel on the wall opened, and revealed the source of their conversation.
The small orb-like monitor hovered, surrounded in a dark green light which contrasted against it’s deep black color. Kelly looked at Halsey for a moment and the Doctor nodded.
“Do it.”
Another series of commands typed into the terminal and the green light dimmed. The monitor shook itself slightly and moved out of the small compartment.
“I cannot even begin to describe how many protocols you have disrupted and ignored,” the monitor said, annoyance thick within it’s tone. “Simply by removing me from my station is in violation of…”
“Please,” Dr. Halsey said, interrupting the monitor’s tirade. “We can go over that at another time. Right now it looks like we’re going to need your help.”
“And why would I help two ignorant Reclaimers like yourself?” the monitor asked. Dr. Halsey smiled darkly and stepped close to the monitor.
“Because,” Halsey said, “Atoning Deviant, if you assist us now in our endeavor. We will help you with your ‘containment’ problems.”
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Author’s Notes: Hmm, does everyone remember where we last saw Atoning Deviant? If you don’t remember, go check out the last chapter of the Covenant History section.
So now Halsey and Kelly are in the story, which should probably stem the demands of everyone. What exactly are they doing however? And why would Halsey be willing to help the monitor when it so obviously is concerned with simply activating the Halo’s?
For those wondering how any Forerunner could still possibly be alive, play the games and read the books and some of the interviews with Bungie. There are subtle hints, very very very subtle, but they’re there, right beneath your nose.
I’ll try and get to work on Chapter 20 as soon as possible. Hopefully we won’t have another month-long wait on our hands…